Fastener-holding socket wrench



July 10, 1956 R. J. CUMMINGS 2,753,746

FASTENER-HOLDING SOCKET WRENCH Filed Feb. 19, 1954 HVVENTUR.

dAi W United States Patent FASTENER-HOLDING SOCKET WRENCH Ralph J.Cummings, Berwyn, Ill.

Application February 19, 1954, Serial No. 411,363

2 Claims. (Cl. 81112) This invention relates to an improvedfastener-holding socket wrench, and in particular it relates to anendopening wrench with which to grip a fastener such as a hex nut orbolt in a restricted space.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a socket wrench withwhich to manipulate fasteners which can not be gripped with conventionaltools.

A further object of the invention is to provide a wrench havingend-opening jaws of very thin metal which can be clamped onto a nutwhere the clearance is only slightly larger than the diameter of thenut, and which are firmly held against relative lateral displacementunder torsional strain.

Another object of this invention is to provide a nut wrench in which theshaft portions of the jaw are noncircular their full length and theclamping member has a complementary bore so that the jaws are heldagainst twisting with respect to one another when torque is applied.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a wrench in which thejaws are provided with interlocking portions to positively preventlateral shifting movement of the jaws when they are clamped on a nut.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the socket wrench of this invention,with a hex nut clamped in the jaws;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of the wrench;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged end elevation of the jaws and shows how they fitthe angles of a hex nut;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal central sectional view on anenlarged scale;

Fig. 5 is a section taken as indicated along the line 5- 5 of Fig. 4with the jaws open;

Fig. 6 is a section taken as indicated along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4 butwith the jaws fully closed; and

Fig. 7 is a section taken as indicated along the line 7-7 of Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, the fastener-holding socketwrench has a handle 10 provided at its forward end with a centralnoncircular aperture in which are fixedly secured shaft portions 11 and12 of a pair of mating jaw members 13 and 14, respectively. The shaftportions are complementary in cross section to the noncircular apertureso that they do not tend to turn in the handie or twist on each other;and the shaft member 11 has a central longitudinal rib 15 which engagesa complementary channel 16 in the shaft member 12, so that the two shaftmembers are locked against lateral twisting or shifting with respect toone another.

The jaw portions 13 and 14 of the shafts 11 and 12 'ice are extremelythin and short, as best seen in Fig. 1, and flare outwardly toward theirends so that their resilience normally holds them open. Each jaw portionis longitudinally bent, as seen at 17 and 18, respectively, the angle atthe bends 17 and 18 being so that each jaw fits two adjacent sides of ahex nut as seen in Fig. 3. Since any regular hexagon has angles of 120between its sides, the jaws 13 and 14 fits perfectly any hex nut Hwithin the limits of movement of the jaws.

A slidable clamping member, indicated generally at 19, includes a largefinger piece 20 and a thin forwardly extending sleeve portion 21 whichprojects an inch or more outwardly from the finger piece 20. Thenoncircular shape of the shaft members 11 and 12, as seen in Figs. 5 to7, and the complementary shape of the opening in the slidable clampingmember 19, also tend to prevent the shaft members from twisting withrespect to one another. The sleeve portion 21 is made sufliciently thinso that its outside circumference is less than the distance around thejaws when they are closed on a nut, so that the sleeve portion does notinterfere with use of the wrench where there is only small clearance asthe wrench is moved into engagement with the nut. The elongated thinsleeve, combined with the fact that the jaws 13 and 14 are quite thin,permits the wrench to be used in locations where there is very littleclearance around the margin of the nut. The rib 15 and channel 16provide a very rigid shaft and jaw construction in which the jaws do notshift laterally with respect to each other when the wrench is turned totighten the nut.

The foregoing detailed description is given for clearness ofunderstanding only and no unnecessary limitations are to be understoodtherefrom, as some modifications will be obvious to those skilled in theart.

I claim:

1. A fastener-holding socket wrench comprising: a handle; a pair of jawmembers. having shaft portions secured to one end of said handle, saidjaw members terminating at their outer ends in thin, mating jaws adaptedto be clamped on a fastener, each of said jaws having two segments whichform an angle of 120, the outer face of each segment forming a generallyplanar extension of the outer face of the shaft portion of the jawmember; a longitudinal internal rib on the shaft portion of one of saidjaw members which engages a complementary recess in the shaft portion ofthe other of said jaw members to prevent relative lateral shifting ofsaid members; and a clamping block slidably mounted on said jaw members,said clamping block having an enlarged finger piece and a thin sleeveportion extending toward the outer end of said jaw members, the outercircumference of the sleeve portion being less than the distance aroundthe jaws when they are clamped on a fastener.

2. A fastener-holding socket wrench comprising: a handle; a pair of jawmembers having cooperating shaft portions the combined perimeter ofwhich is noncircular, said shaft portions being seated in acomplementary recess at one end of said handle, said jaw membersterminating at their outer ends in thin, mating jaws adapted to beclamped on a fastener, each of said jaws having two segments which forman angle of 120, the outer face of each segment forming a generallyplanar extension of an outer face of the shaft portion of a jaw member;a longitudinal internal rib on the shaft portion of one of said jawmembers which engages a complementary recess in the shaft portion of theother of said jaw members to prevent relative lateral shifting of saidmembers; and a clamping block having an enlarged finger piece and a thinsleeve portion extending toward the outer end of said 5 jaw members,said clamping block having a longitudinal bore complementary to andclosely embracing the noncircular shaft portions, the outercircumference of the sleeve portion being less than the distance aroundthe jaws when they are clamped on a fastener.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Pugh May 13,

McKeever Oct. 3,

Nagel Oct. 13,

Vertin Dec. 5,

Elliott Feb. 12,

FOREIGN PATENTS France June 20,

